Central Place Theory
By: Cooper Jervey
Central Place Theory
●
●
●
Explains how services are distributed and why a regular pattern of
settlements exists in MDCs.
Developed in the 1930s by German geographer Walter Christaller based off
of his studies of Southern Germany. Later developed further in 1950s by
other geographers in Germany and the United States.
A central place is a market center for the exchange of goods and services by
people attracted from the surrounding area.
Central Place Theory (cont.)
●
●
Helps show the market area (the area surrounding a service from which
customers are attracted) and the range (maximum distance people are
willing to travel to use a service) of each service by the use of hexagons.
The smaller hexagons represent a smaller service and its smaller market
area/range and the larger hexagons represent a larger service and its larger
market area/range.
Central Place Theory (cont.)
●
Each dot also can represent a city on the settlement hierarchy in a perfect
world. The smallest dots represent the hamlets and the largest dots
represent the world cities. Each dot coincides with a level of the settlement
hierarchy in a direct relationship.
Central Place Theory (cont.)
●
●
The Central Place Theory fits best in the Great Plains of the United States
because there are no rivers, mountains, lakes, etc. to interfere with the
distribution of the central places.
The Central Place Theory does not apply perfectly anywhere but it does
apply in a few aspects in a few areas such as in metropolitan areas in mega
or world cities.
Picture based off largest
markets.
Central Place Theory (cont.)
●
The Central Place Theory can be represented by circles (equidistant to edge
but overlaps and leaves gaps) and squares (sides aren’t equidistant from
the center but doesn’t overlap/leave gaps) but the hexagon works the best
(no overlap, no gaps, relatively the same distant to the edge from the center.
Central Place Theory (cont.)
●
●
The threshold is the minimum number of people needed to support the
service.
The hexagons of the of the Central Place Theory also show the the threshold
of each service.
Walter Christaller (1893-1969)
●
●
●
German geographer who contributed the most to the Central Place Theory.
The Central Place Theory was the pinnacle of Christaller’s career.
The “Central Place Theory” is also known as “Christaller’s Model” because of
his contribution to the model.
Summary of Central Place Theory
●
●
●
Explains how services are distributed and why a regular pattern of
settlements exists in MDCs.
Developed by German geographer Walter Christaller in 1930s.
Helps show each market’s market area, range, and threshold through
hexagons or another shape like a square or circle.